Mass incarceration’s effects no doubt reach beyond the prison walls and impact the family. There are multiple negative effects out there impacting the families of the incarcerated, whether they be of blood relation or simply friends. One such theories that can impact the families of the incarcerated is called Bandura’s Theory of Modeling and Imitation. Bandura examined the learning processes of children, and if watching adults and how they interact can have an enduring effect on how children act or will act in the future. Interestingly, Bandura found, “that simply observing the behavior of others, especially adults, can have profound learning effects on the behavior of children” (Tibbets, 144). Therefore, if a child is growing up in an environment
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The positive of doing this would be it would allow the parent to be viewed as a better role model and make a greater impression in their child or children’s life. This is something they may not be able to do if the individual was in a jail cell. Additionally, if the child does not have a father-figure in his life, he may look to others who are committing the same crimes, only exacerbating the learning effects found in Bandura’s studies. Also, these exhibited behaviors can have an impact on friends. This is because friends can look at the behavior of the individual who is behaving in a deviant behavior, and in return, can exhibit those behaviors themselves. This is classic social learning because individuals, “can learn criminal behavior through interacting with significant others, people with whom they typically associate” (Tibbets, …show more content…
First, the history of mass incarceration in the United States shows mass incarceration began after the 1960s due to the War on Drugs. Also, the rates of prisoners skyrocketed and the racial disparities in incarceration rates increased during the same time period. Second, Michelle Alexander does a fantastic job in her book, The New Jim Crow, in explaining the history of mass incarceration, the ways in which mass incarceration works against African-Americans, and presented intriguing possible solutions in order to cure this issue. Lastly, mass incarceration can have many effects on the families of those incarcerated. This includes, allowing family members to view the behavior elicited by the offender and follow that behavior, delve the family into poverty due to the offender not being able to easily be employed nor qualify for federal aid, and not give offenders the right to vote, which may impact family policy in the United States. Overall, one cannot deny mass incarceration is a big issue, however it will take unity and social change in order to reverse the troubling trends seen in the
The positive of doing this would be it would allow the parent to be viewed as a better role model and make a greater impression in their child or children’s life. This is something they may not be able to do if the individual was in a jail cell. Additionally, if the child does not have a father-figure in his life, he may look to others who are committing the same crimes, only exacerbating the learning effects found in Bandura’s studies. Also, these exhibited behaviors can have an impact on friends. This is because friends can look at the behavior of the individual who is behaving in a deviant behavior, and in return, can exhibit those behaviors themselves. This is classic social learning because individuals, “can learn criminal behavior through interacting with significant others, people with whom they typically associate” (Tibbets, …show more content…
First, the history of mass incarceration in the United States shows mass incarceration began after the 1960s due to the War on Drugs. Also, the rates of prisoners skyrocketed and the racial disparities in incarceration rates increased during the same time period. Second, Michelle Alexander does a fantastic job in her book, The New Jim Crow, in explaining the history of mass incarceration, the ways in which mass incarceration works against African-Americans, and presented intriguing possible solutions in order to cure this issue. Lastly, mass incarceration can have many effects on the families of those incarcerated. This includes, allowing family members to view the behavior elicited by the offender and follow that behavior, delve the family into poverty due to the offender not being able to easily be employed nor qualify for federal aid, and not give offenders the right to vote, which may impact family policy in the United States. Overall, one cannot deny mass incarceration is a big issue, however it will take unity and social change in order to reverse the troubling trends seen in the